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Alt-Right ‘Proud Boys’ Still Verified on Twitter Despite Reforms
Observer ^ | 7/3/18 | John Bonazzo

Posted on 07/04/2018 2:35:27 PM PDT by Drew68

Twitter shouldn’t be proud of this.

The social network has taken some important steps in the past year to remove hate speech on its platform, such as suspending neo-Nazi groups and stripping alt-right activists of their “verified” status.

But as Splinter reporter Emma Roller noted this morning, Twitter still has a long way to go.

The Proud Boys were established during the 2016 presidential election by Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes. They don’t consider themselves part of the alt-right, instead insisting they are “western chauvinists” who oppose political correctness and white guilt. They also think the fact they’re named after a Broadway show tune gives them cover.

But this linguistic fussing is undercut by their actions. The Proud Boys took part in the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and said the alternative labels were just “PR cuck terms.”

“I guarantee you that like 90 percent of them would tell you something along the lines of ‘Hitler was right. Gas the Jews,'” member Brian Brathovd said on an alt-right podcast.

McInnes himself has publicly stated that all American citizens should “assimilate to a Western, white, English-speaking way of life.”

Obviously a group with such values shouldn’t be promoted on Twitter And to its credit, the site has not verified satellite groups affiliated with the Proud Boys—McInnes’ personal account is also unverified.

But the official Proud Boys account still features that telltale blue check mark.

It’s unclear how the group managed to slip through the cracks—and Twitter did not respond to an Observer request for comment.

But according to some commentators, it’s simply a business decision.

Notable tweeters like actor Seth Rogen and activist group Sleeping Giants have attempted to engage with Twitter founder Jack Dorsey about offensive content on the platform, but these discussions haven’t resulted in any change.

“You can’t escape the fact that racism and harassment equals traffic equals a higher stock price equals millions in their pockets,” Sleeping Giants said. “It may not be that these founders and CEOs like @jack don’t give a f***, it’s that they give a whole lot more of a f*** about giving themselves many more millions, which is even f***ing worse.”

Twitter retooled its verification procedures last year after users pointed out that posting the blue check marks on alt-right accounts was tantamount to endorsing hate speech.

Prominent alt-right activists like Richard Spencer and Laura Loomer thus lost their verified status. And they did not take it well.

Spencer claimed the action showed it’s “not okay to be proudly white” anymore, while Loomer accused Twitter of “eradicating” her presence “just like Hitler.”

But of course, this isn’t true. Spencer, Loomer and their ilk weren’t suspended or blocked, so they can still freely tweet their views.

The same would be true if The Proud Boys lost their check mark. Here’s hoping Dorsey comes to his senses and stops prizing profit over hate.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: neonazis; poyb; proudboys
They don’t consider themselves part of the alt-right, instead insisting they are “western chauvinists” who oppose political correctness and white guilt.

And pro-Trump.

That's all it takes these days to be considered a hate group.


1 posted on 07/04/2018 2:35:27 PM PDT by Drew68
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To: Drew68

Do the various Black Lives Matter groups have a check Mark? Does La Rafa have a check mark?


2 posted on 07/04/2018 2:43:52 PM PDT by RightGeek (FUBO and the donkey you rode in on)
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To: Drew68

How do you make yourself hated even more as a Conservative.

Claim you are Alt-Right.

Might as well claim you’re an Uber “anything racist or NAZI-like, because that’s how the media will spin it”.


3 posted on 07/04/2018 2:44:49 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (01/26/18 DJIA 30 stocks $26,616.71 48.794% > open 11/07/16 215.71 from 50% increase 1.2183 yrs..)
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To: Drew68
Sleeping Giants said. “It may not be that these founders and CEOs like @jack don’t give a f***, it’s that they give a whole lot more of a f*** about giving themselves many more millions, which is even f***ing worse.”

Sounds like Sleeping Giants need their mouth washed out with a brick, a fist and lots of broken teeth...

4 posted on 07/04/2018 2:47:26 PM PDT by kiryandil (Never pick a fight with an angry beehive)
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To: Drew68

Notice how these pathetic leftist news sites no longer allow comments because the comments were always 90% against their garbage viewpoint.


5 posted on 07/04/2018 2:47:40 PM PDT by Sir Gawain
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To: Drew68

Their one true sin is believing in the sovereignty of the United States and believing that whites have a right to be proud of being white.


6 posted on 07/04/2018 3:02:43 PM PDT by raybbr (That progressive bumper sticker on your car might just as wll say, "Yes, I'm THAT stupid!")
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To: Sir Gawain

The Guardian is pretty egregious in that regard. When they do allow comments, if the majority of them start to go against the Guardian/left position, they will close them.

I am always reading on leftist sites about how they need to find a way to suppress dissenting viewpoints. Not debate them, just shut them down. The left are the exact fascists and tyrants they’re always projecting us to be. They believe that they have a divine right to rule (and rule in the most private and personal aspects of people’s lives, down even to their thoughts). As they oppose and hate God, I wonder where their “divine” right would flow from. Lucifer?


7 posted on 07/04/2018 3:15:46 PM PDT by mrsmel (I wonÂ’t be reconstructed and I do not give a damn)
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To: Drew68
I am shocked facebook hasn't purged this group yet:

Triggered Millennials


8 posted on 07/04/2018 3:22:23 PM PDT by KC_Lion (If you want on First Lady Melania's, Ivanka Trump's or Sarah Palin's Ping Lists, just let me know.)
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To: KC_Lion

Triggered Millennials...

Weird photo.

Is that a “Rainbow Flag?”


9 posted on 07/04/2018 4:15:28 PM PDT by Big Red Badger (UNSCANABLE in an IDIOCRACY)
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To: KC_Lion
That FB group is excellent!


10 posted on 07/04/2018 4:16:15 PM PDT by oblomov
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To: Drew68; All

“Hate speech” is Free Speech.

The government does not clamp down on “inoffensive” speech.

There is no right to not be offended.


11 posted on 07/04/2018 6:07:07 PM PDT by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries.)
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